New Beginnings
by watermelyn
Summary: A quiet afternoon during fourth year.


'So Dean, what do you reckon?'

Seamus and Dean were in the fourth year Gryffindor boys' room, each on Seamus' messy and comfortable bed. Dean was sitting against the wall, a sketch pad on his knees and a charcoal pencil in his mouth. He was gazing into space absently, chewing on his pencil.

'Mate, do you need a map?' Seamus said loudly, waving his hand in front of his friend's face. Dean shook himself.

'Huh? Why?' he said.

'Because you seemed pretty lost there.'

The artist smiled distantly.

'I was just thinking about last summer.' Dean's twinkling brown eyes met Seamus' blue ones. The Irishman raised an eyebrow.

'Which part? The time we got caught caught in a rain storm in the middle of the lake with only our undies on or the time my mother found out it was us who put dungbombs in the neighbour's trashbin? Or when—'

'Your birthday.'

'Ah. Best birthday ever,' Seamus said with a wistful smile upon his face. Surprisingly, his mother had let them stay alone for one night in the little fishing cabin his father had deep on the woods. They had stayed awake all night, just talking and joking; it was a night like the kind Seamus expected girls spent when they had they sleepovers. Minus the make-up, mind you. The day after, they'd set off for the Quidditch World Cup (as they had needed to get there two weeks early), happily clad in green and singing all day long.

Really, the whole summer had been amazing.

'Hey, Dean.'

'Hm?'

'What do you reckon about Harry? Do you think he put his name in the Goblet? Ron seems to think so.' Seamus positioned himself so he sat next to his friend, back against the wall and shoulders touching.

'Oh, I don't know. Sea, remember your birthday present?'

'Uh…' How could he forget? He couldn't; Godric knows he'd tried. It was just a kiss after all, and Dean had said himself that it was just a joke. Only meant to make Seamus laugh. There was absolutely no reason to dwell on it and relive it every night before falling asleep. They'd never mentioned it again and Seamus had chalked up Dean's actions to too much Butterbeer, lack of sleep, teenage hormones and a high on life. It obviously meant nothing to him. How could he have known that Seamus preferred blokes to birds, when Seamus himself didn't know it, at least not at the time?

'Which one?' Seamus asked innocently.

'Not the book about Quidditch.'

'Oh, the other one… Yeah, yeah… vaguely…' Seamus said faintly. Why the hell was Dean bringing this up now, months after the fact? Dean sighed.

'Sorry,' he said, gazing down at Seamus beside him. There was such a height different, Sea had to tilt his face to look up at Dean properly.

'For what? It was… funny…' It wasn't his first choice of adjective, but it would have to do.

'No, I'm sorry for…' Dean's voice faded uncertainly, but he seemed to gather his courage and continued his sentence. '…for letting you think it was meant as a joke,' he finished loudly.

'What? How did you mean it, then?' Seamus was confused and a little hurt, but above all, hopeful. He saw Dean smile a little then—

Oh.

Well.

This was nice.

Seamus let himself be taken away by Dean's mouth, somewhere far away, akin to heaven but with lots of tongue. He briefly wondered where Dean had learned to kiss like this, but he didn't spend too much time on the errant thought, choosing instead to focus on Dean's lips and the way they were moving in perfect synchronicity with his. It wasn't clumsy and awkward like their first kiss, but rather amazing. Dean shifted so they were facing each other and Seamus felt a big, graceful hand cup his cheek gently. The other arm was wrapped around his waist, cradling Seamus comfortably.

'Like this,' Dean murmured against Sea's pink, full lips, already slightly swollen. They tingled a little.

Seamus brought his hand to the back of Dean's head, pulling him back in for more. Dean tasted great, like the cinnamon buns they'd had after supper, and Seamus couldn't get enough of it. It was something he'd never experienced before, a kiss such as this. He sank down so that he was laying on the soft bed with Dean on top of him, heavily but pleasantly. The warmth was welcome. The young artist moved to Seamus' neck, sucking and nipping all the sensitive spots Seamus had never known existed. He moaned, and Dean licked and kissed his way back up to Seamus' mouth, sending shivers through his whole body.

'The others will come in soon,' Seamus said breathlessly before Dean descended hungrily upon his mouth once more.

'Mm, don't care,' Dean said in between long, sweet kisses. Seamus didn't protest, only pulled Dean closer still. They were at it for five more blissful minutes when, as predicted, Harry, Ron and Neville walked into the dorm. They made no noise, and so the two boys kissing each other desperately didn't notice their arrival and continued snogging. When Seamus opened his eyes to observe Dean's handsome and flushed face, he spotted movement out of the corner of his eye. Pushing Dean away abruptly (_'Hey! What are you doing?'_), he sat up, wiped his mouth on his sleeve and looked up at his fellow fourth years with wide eyes. He blushed, but held his gaze steadily, first with Neville then Harry then finally Ron, who had reddened considerably more than Sea had. By this time, Dean had noticed their dorm-mates too and was staring at them with apprehension, having pushed himself up and sat clumsily.

'Um… hi…' Seamus said, fidgeting with embarrassment. Harry chuckled at the sight of the normally confident Irishman, now so nervous.

'We should leave, guys,' said Harry as he winked at the two boys on the bed.

'No, no, we were just, ah, finishing…'

Dean snorted and raised an eyebrow at his friend, the liar.

'Or just getting started,' Ron said faintly, eyes bugging out at the telltale tightness of both the boys' trousers.

'I just needed to fetch my—what was it I needed to get?' Neville said, clearly uncomfortable.

'Potions textbook,' Harry supplied. What followed was the most awkward minute of either of the five boys' lives as Neville searched through his messy corner for the book. When finally he found it, the three stumbled quickly out of the dorm and ran down the stairs, presumably to share the news with Hermione, Ginny and the twins.

Seamus sighed and laid down again, his hands tensed behind his head.

'Hm, wasn't so bad,' Dean murmured, following suit and snuggling up next to Sea's warm body. He embraced Seamus tightly, breathing in the other boy's clean scent.

'How so?' asked Seamus incredulously. Those tense minutes had seemed awful enough to him.

'At least we don't have to come out to Gryffindor,' Dean replied lightly, kissing Seamus tenderly on the cheek.

'Yeah.' Sea nestled closer to Dean.

This was _very_ nice.

'Seamus?'

'Dean?'

'Be my boyfriend?'

Seamus breathed in sharply. This was more than he'd ever hoped for deep inside; beyond what he'd imagined.

'Yeah. Yeah, I will,' Seamus answered slowly, a gorgeous smile gracing his features. Dean couldn't resist; he leaned in to taste it once more, and the small peck transformed into another heated snog. So what if they were only 14 and that Seamus' parents would definitely not approve? This was pure, unadulterated bliss. This was what Seamus had secretly wanted ever since his birthday, and what Dean had wished for since long before that. Finally, they didn't have to hide their desires anymore—they could give in to their needs.

'Best present ever.'


End file.
